The Tale of Qing Shui River 《探清水河》

Peach leaves like the point of a needle,

and willow leaves which fill the sky,

here sit wise gentlemen,

so hearken your ears to my words.

By the indigo dye mills of west Beijing

at its firearm camp, is Old Song the third.

Speaking of Old Song the Third

He sells opium with his wife

Though they never had a son

They birthed a beautiful daughter

Who has just come of age,

and was given the sobriquet “Da Lian” after the lotus flower

Her name is Da Lian

With beauty like truth

Yet this bloom is untouched

The broken strings of a pipa make no sound

She is like the beauty Diao Chan missing her hero Lu Bu,

Or the married Yan Poxi, in her chamber, thinking of her lover Zhang San

The sun slips behind the mountain

and autumnal insects sing

Liu Gege, the man I long for day and night

Had come to my doorstep

He asked to meet before midnight

I, Da Lian, shyly bowed my head in silence

The drums marked the third night’s watch

With the moon suspended in the heavens

Liu Gege came to my doorstep

In a great rush I opened it to him

Pulling him in by one hand, my beloved foe

At the fourth night’s watch

The moon shimmered in the firmament

How affectionate a couple;

embracing, lingering

Like lovebirds playing in water, let me whisper my secrets

Holding the confidant of my heart, my tears fall endlessly

At the fifths night watch, dawn breaks

Her parents learn what’s happened,

“This honourless child

has brought ruin to our family

Today you must be punished!

Wetting the whip, you must be hit.”

Da Lian was silent,

And entrapped, dove into the river

Liu Gege heard

And searched for her in the Clear Water River

My dearest, you died only for me

Slow down Da Lian, wait for me.

Autumn rain falls endlessly

As frost descends on the Clear Water River

What devoted lovers

Both drowning themselves in the river

For nothing more than the love they felt between their hearts.

And that is the tale of Qing Shui River

And that is the tale of Qing Shui River